Category Archives: Celebration

Gajar ka Halwa with Pistachio Coulis

Wishing all my wonderful readers A Very Happy Valentine’s Day! I would love to celebrate this day with this recipe of Gajar ka halwa with pistachio coulis. There is one more sweet reason to celebrate. Tomorrow ‘MellownSpicy’ will be completing six months. It has been a wonderful experience in this blogging world, sharing recipes, interacting with fellow bloggers and getting inspiration from them. Looking forward to many more fun filled days in this blogging world.

Today’s recipe is a simple twist to a classic Indian dessert. Back home Gajar ka halwa is a winter delicacy when the carrots are in abundance and cheap. The pistachio coulis pairs great with the halwa and takes it to another level. Try this recipe and sweeten the lives of your loved ones.

Gajar ka Halwa with Pistachio Coulis

Recipe Serves: 4-6 people

Recipe of ‘coulis’ adapted from: Sanjeev Kapoor

4 cups grated carrot
2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter
2 cups milk
½ cup grated khoya or mawa (solidified milk)
¾ cup sugar or adjust to taste
Pinch of green cardamom powder
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
Sliced pistachios for garnish

For Pistachio Coulis

½ cup blanched pistachios ground to a paste
2 tablespoons honey
¼ cup fresh cream

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and sauté the grated carrots for couple of minutes, add the milk and let it cook in medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until the milk is absorbed and the carrot is soft and tender. Now add the grated khoya, sugar, raisins and sliced almonds and mix in well. Continuously stir the mixture and let it cook for 5 more minutes. When the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan add the green cardamom powder and take out of the heat and let it cool down a bit.

Meanwhile prepare the pistachio coulis. In a separate pan mix the pistachio paste and the cream and bring it to a boil. Add the honey and mix well. Cook at a medium heat for 4-5 minutes until the mixture becomes thick.

Serve ‘Gajar ka halwa’ warm on a plate and garnish with sliced pistachios and pistachio coulis on the side. Enjoy!

Tips:

While cooking the halwa always stir the mixture and cook at a medium heat. You can add nuts of your choice. While Gajar ka halwa itself tastes great, you can add the coulis to give it a more festive touch.

Chicken Korma

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We are almost at the end of the year 2012. Today as we look back, we get mixed feelings. This year gave us some good, bad and some very unpleasant moments. The recent unpleasant events have shaken us to the core and suddenly we find everything so vague and unreal. We question our very existence, our morals and the future we are heading to. But life should go on. We expect that this new year brings in happiness, less terrorism and violence, more human patience and endurance. We shall all hope for the best and welcome the New Year with open arms.

New Year brings in joy, laughter and parties. So what are your plans this year? I have no special plans other than having a scrumptious dinner together. If you are hosting a party tonight and looking for a last minute idea, this recipe of chicken korma will rock your party.

Chicken korma has silky smooth gravy with a light golden color. The gravy is mild and flavored with garam masala and saffron. The satiny smooth gravy is attained by straining the gravy and finally mixing with the chicken. This recipe is a real hit in any lunch or dinner menu. Give it a try on New year or any other days of the year and enjoy.

Chicken Korma

Recipe serves: 2-4 people

Adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor

750 grams chicken with bone
2 table spoons ginger- garlic paste
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
2-3 whole green cardamoms
2-3 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 green chillies slit
½ cup cashew paste
½ cup whisked yogurt
1 table spoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Few streaks of saffron
Fresh cream ¼ cup
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
2 table spoons white oil for cooking

First clean and wash the chicken pieces and marinate with 1 table spoon of ginger garlic paste, salt and red chilli powder and keep aside.

Heat a big pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil and when the oil is hot add the whole cardamoms, cloves and bay leaves. Next add the remaining ginger-garlic paste and stir well for 3-4 minutes in medium heat. Add the green chillies and the cashew paste and mix in well. Stir for couple of minutes until the raw smell of the spices is no more. Add little water if the mixture is too dry as the cashew paste tends to stick to the pan. Add the whisked yogurt and keep stirring the mixture in a low flame. Now add a cup of water, salt and continue to cook for some time. When the gravy is thick switch off the heat, strain the gravy and set aside.

Meanwhile in a separate pan add the remaining oil and add the marinated chicken and sear it in high heat for 5 minutes. When the chicken is well seared from all sides add the prepared gravy and a cup of water, coriander powder, garam masala powder, the saffron streaks and mix well. Cover the pan and let it cook in a low flame for 10 -12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. While the chicken is cooking make sure that the gravy in not too thick or else add some water. Once the chicken is cooked, add the cream and switch off the heat. Transfer it in a serving bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with any Indian bread or rice.

Enjoy!

Tips:

It is important to keep the color of the gravy light so do not over do with the red chilli powder. You can substitute coconut milk for cream.

Fruit Cake and A Merry Christmas!!!

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Christmas is all about Santa Claus, gifts, loving and sharing and Fruit cakes. Baking a cake on this day has become a tradition for many but if you choose to bake a fruit cake you have to plan ahead. The soaking of the fruits in alcohol starts way back in September so that the fruits can absorb most of the flavor. But if you are a late planner like me then you can even soak for a week and that is just fine.

Now I am not a great fan of a cake that is heavily laden with fruits and strong flavor of alcohol so I usually go for a lighter version but for the last couple of years I am baking a rich fruit cake because of popular demand. My husband is a great lover of fruit cakes and even my friends demand for a rich traditional fruit cake on Christmas. I follow my mom’s recipe (she has a great passion for cooking and baking) with a slight twist. I make the caramel syrup and add it to the batter which she skips.

The recipe is otherwise simple except for the soaking part and the making of the caramel syrup. As I said that you can soak the fruits even for a week and that is absolutely fine but more the better and if you want to have a non-alcoholic version, soaking in lemon or orange juice is just fine.

I wish all my wonderful readers and fellow bloggers a wonderful Merry Christmas!!!

Fruit and Nut Christmas cake

Recipe makes two 8 inch round cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking power
Pinch of salt
4 eggs at room temperature
1 cup butter melted
1 ½ cup brown sugar
1 cup dry fruits of your choice e.g.: dates, raisins, sweetened cranberries, sultanas etc.
½ cup candied citrus peels
½ cup mixed nuts of your choice
1/2 cup glazed cherries
1 cup Rum
2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
¼ teaspoon clove powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the caramel syrup

½ cup sugar
¾ cup boiling hot water

Mix all the fruits in a large bowl and add the rum and stir well. Cover and leave on the kitchen counter and stir often. If you are soaking for more than a week then keep in the refrigerator and give a stir in between.

On the day of baking the cake, first prepare the caramel syrup. Preparing the caramel syrup is not difficult but you have to be very careful. Start heating the sugar in a sauce pan at a low heat. The sugar will slowly melt and form caramel. Do not stir the melted sugar with a spoon but you can swirl the pan. When all the sugar crystals have melted add the boiling water and stir to form a uniform mixture. Set aside and cool completely.

Grease two eight inch round pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper and preheat the oven at 350F.

In a big bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt and the powdered spices and keep aside. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and the sugar with a hand-held mixture. When it becomes fluffy add the melted butter and mix in. Add the vanilla. Now add the flour mixture in batches and mix the batter until everything is well incorporated. Add in the soaked fruits with the rum and mix in well. At last add the cooled caramel syrup and mix well one last time.

Divide the batter between the two greased cake pans and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool the cake completely and wrap with a cling film and leave on the kitchen counter for at least three days for the flavors to mature.

Decorate the cake with ribbons and dust powdered sugar on top and serve.

Enjoy!

Tips:

You can use orange or lemon juice instead of alcohol. You can use oil in place of butter in the recipe. One note of caution is to be extra careful while you are cooking the sugar because once the sugar has melted it has a much higher temperature than boiling water and always use a pan with high sides.

Here I have used two small Bundt pans to bake the cakes.

Linking this to:Bake Fest #14 @ Cooks Joy